With smartphones becoming ubiquitous, mobile applications have flooded the technology landscape. Around 1500 new applications are launched daily on Google Play and Apple App Store. This deluge of applications signals that having a mobile app is just a great start, crucial is to market it successfully.
A well-planned marketing strategy gives you a competitive edge and ascertains that users return to your app. However, at times, common mistakes made by marketers while promoting their apps results in waste of efforts and budgets.

Here are five mistakes that you should avoid while marketing your mobile application-

1. Putting marketing strategy at the backseat- Developing a user-friendly mobile application is akin to half battle won. To stay ahead of your competitors and to conquer the mobile app world, it is imperative that you differentiate your app from other similar apps in the app store and optimize it to make it discoverable to the right users. To ensure this, lay out a timeline for marketing your app both at pre and post launch stages. For effective results, it is recommended that you start promoting your app right after it is developed and is ready to go live, rather than a few weeks before the launch.

2. Lack of Research- Research and data are the keys to a successful marketing strategy. Research gives you an insight into the number of similar apps in the market and the user behaviour within them. It also helps you identify your target market and your position on the competition curve, the factors which are crucial to determine the success of your app.

3. Ignoring LTV- Lifetime Value (LTV) of users is the most important metrics used to measure the profitability and performance of a product. It measures the amount of revenue a user is expected to bring during the lifetime of using that app. The knowledge of LTV of your users is critical in determining where and what amount has to be invested in acquiring the users, in improving the app and in keeping the users engaged.

4. Brushing aside App Store Optimisation (ASO)- Just like SEO is critical to optimize the website for search engines, your app needs to have right keywords in the title and description to be discoverable in the app store. ASO is a rigorous process and needs periodic testing, measurement and improvement to get desired results. Simple ASO strategies such as unique and attractive app icon and name and the mix of strong keywords that have high relevancy to the app and high search volume with low competition can yield valuable results in making apps easily searchable in the app store.

5. Not customising the app to the specific app store- App stores like Apple and Google play are unique in themselves and the functionality of apps varies across these platforms. Most apps are customised to just one platform but are used on multiple platforms without any adaptation which results in uninstallations and low engagement. App developers must invest time in understanding the app store-specific needs and customize their app to each platform accordingly through ASO rules (which are different for different platforms), creative, visuals and meta-descriptions.

So next time you create an app, make sure that you put its marketing strategy on top of the list to ensure that it resonates with millions of users.